Journal binder



May 2, 1950 w. c. HAMILTON 2,506,357

JOURNAL BINDER Filed Aug. 16, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1?; ra ga-21 55:???

William 6. Hamil 0 i ,6 JNVENTOR.

May 2, 1950 c. HAMILTON JOURNAL BINDER Filed Aug. 16, 1948 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.7.

William 0. Hamilton IN VEN TOR.

- Fig. 8.

Patented May 2, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOURNAL BINDER William0. HamiltomOklahoma City, Okla.

Application August 16, 1948, Serial No. 44,559

1 Claim.

This invention relates generally to book bindings and coacting means forsupporting single sheets, said means being retained in place within thebinding of the book, or easily removed therefrom and used to support asheet or-a small number of sheets apart from the book, the said bindingbeing adapted for easy removal of the single sheet frame, and theinvention being primarily adapted for accounting books.

A primary object of this invention is to providea binder for journalsand the like, in which a pair of inflexible back strips, inflexiblecovers pivoted thereon, and hollow posts connecting the said back stripsand held together by a novel form of keeper coact to provide an idealenvironment for use with a single sheet frame, allowing the removal ofthe latter from the book with utmost with particular reference to thesingle sheet frame, which will allow an accountant or other person towrite upon or to make entry upon a single sheet positioned substantiallyflat upon a larger writing surface, thus allowing more comfortablepositioning of the writers arm, with consequent greater accuracy andspeed in such writing. 7

Another object of this invention, concerned chiefly with the ease withwhich a portion of a book can be transported from place to place,resides in the ease with which one or a small number of sheets may beinserted in the single sheet frame, while the heavier, bulkier book maythen not need to be transported from place to place while currententries are being made on the ,5,

said single sheet or small number of sheets carried in the single sheetframe, and as before noted these single sheets will be protected againstinjury, since the margins of the sheets are inserted in slots within thesides of the single sheet frame. Accountants and others will be quick torealize many instances in which the larger bulkier book may be leftsubstantially untouched during a considerable period, possibly during awhole day, while the current days entries are made in ithe sheetscarried by the single sheet frame.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved keeper andpost construction for use with rigid back strips of heavy journals andthe like.

With these and other objects definitely in view, this invention residesin certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangementof elements and portions as will be hereinafter described in detail inthe specification, particularly pointed out in the appended claim, andillustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a material part ofthis application, and in which:

Figure 1 is a three-dimensional view of an accounting book constructedaccording to this invention;

Figure 2 is a transverse fragmentary vertical sectional view takensubstantially upon th line 2--2 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a three-dimensional view of what is hereinafter referred toas one of the posts;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view, taken substantiallyupon the line 4-4 in Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a three-dimensional view of what is hereinafter referred toas one of the keepers;

Figure 6 is a three-dimensional view of a single sheet frame;

Figure 7 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of two of thesesingle sheet frames connected together as used when at least a pair ofsheets are to be carried together; and

Figure 8 is a transverse vertical sectional view of the single sheetframe, taken substantially on the line 8-8 in Figure 6.

Similar characters of reference designate similar or identical elementsand portions throughout the specification and throughout the differentviews of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, this invention includes abinder having an inflexible lower back strip l0, an inflexible upperback strip l2, and upper and lower inflexible covers [4 and I 6 pivotedby means of pins l8 and 20 to the upper and lower back strips.

A pair of hollow posts 22 are secured to the lower back strip ID bymeans of an internally threaded bushing 24 which may be molded into thelower back strip l0 when the latter is constructed of plastic material.The upper back strip I2 is provided with a stepped bore having acylindrical portion 25 and an arcuate upper portion 26 to receive a pairof keepers, generally indicated by the numeral 28 and best representedin Figures 2 and 5.

The keepers 28 each comprises a pair of crossed shanks 30 of springmaterial which are secured at their upper ends to a substantiallysemi-spherical bowl 32, and which carry at their lower ends a pair ofnotched jaws 34. A plunger 36 is reciprocatively mounted in the bowl 32and extends downwardly to terminate in a ring 38 which engages theshanks 30 at the point where these shanks cross. A finger-controlledelement, which may be referred to as a button 40, is secured to theupper end of the plunger 36 and a coiled spring 42 is compressed betweenthe button 40 and the inner surface of the bowl 32 in order to bias theplunger upwardly and thus bias the jaws 34 outwardly to engage the innersurface of the corresponding post 22. Referring again to theconstruction of the posts 22, Figure 3 represents clearly how each postis constructed with a threaded lower terminal 44 for threaded engagementwith the corresponding bushings 24, while each post is internallythreaded, preferably throughout its length, as indicated at 56. It willthus be clear how the notched'jaws 3 3 may be made to engage thethreaded interior of each post 22. Furthermore, it will be clear how thebowls 32 will hold the lower'and upper back strips H! and- H together,since these bowls 32 will engage the arcuate portions 26 of the bore inthe upper .back. strip and the keepers 28 will, of course,

always be pressed downwardly as fully as possible sothat the backstrips, and the covers carried thereby will compress and protect thesheets 22 of the book. It will also be noted that the posts are providedwith apertures 48 intermediate their lengths, these apertures 48 beingused to receive short rigid bars, not shown, to hold the same againstturning while other posts of similar construction are threaded. intothe-upper end of the posts already in position, so that the thickness ofthe journal or other book may be indefinitely increased.

Refinements of. structure'will include such elements as terminal capsfill secured by screws or otherwise to the back strips I and i2, asindicatedin Figure-l.

An. important element. inthis invention is comprised inthe. single sheetframes 52. These single sheet frames are generally rectangular in shapeand are provided with a slot along the mainportion of the length. ofboth sides and one end of the frame, which frame is, of course,centrally apertured. Portions 55' are bent upwardly and inwardlytocomprise the upper bounding elements of the slot '54. A portion 58,extending beyond the curved end 60 of each of the portions 56, is ofrectangular plate character and is provided with a pair of apertures 62to receive upper end portions of the posts 22-, whereby the single sheetframes are secured within the binding, as clearly indicated in Figure 2.A plurality of aligned apertures Biwil-l be provided along the outerlongitudinal edgeof the. extending portion 58-toreceiveanelongated-.spiral ring 66, when a pair of single sheet frames 52 areto be secured together so that a plurality of sheets may be supported inthese frames.

The operation of this invention will be clearly understood fromaconsideration of the foregoing description of the mechanical detailsthereof, taken in connection with the drawings and with the aboverecited objects. It will be clear how the single sheet frames allow theremoval of single sheets or a small number of sheets from the main book,allowing comfortable writing thereon and. providing protection of themargins thereof while removed from the binder. It will be also clear howthe novel features of the binder facilitate the use of these singlesheet frames.

Minor variation from the disclosed embodiment of this inventionmayberesorted to without the departure fromthe spirit of. this invention.which is limited only by the appended claim.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A. binder comprising. an inflexible lower back strip, an inflexibleupper back strip, covers pivoted on said back strips, hollow postshaving the lower end of each post secured to said lower back strip, theupper back strip having stepped bores, keepers seating in said bores andhaving spring pressed jaws removably securable on upper portions of saidposts whereby said upper back strip is easily removed, said,keepers'each comprising apair of crossed shank. members carrying saidjaws, a ring encircling said shanks where they cross each other, andaspring biased plunger carrying. said ring, said; plunger having abutton terminal to facilitate manual manipulation of said plunger, andsaid button being exposedon the outer side of said upper back strip.

WILLIAM C. HAMILTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 809,587 Sussman Jan. 9, 19961,182,498 McBee May 9, 1916 1,208,724 Averill Dec. 19, 1916 1,868,207Hutchings July 17, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 21,315 GreatBritain 1913

